PORT ANGELES — In response to the Port Angeles Chamber of Commerce’s push for lawmakers to take “forceful action” with the graving yard, the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe is refusing $2,500 through the chamber for a summer event.
Statements in a Jan. 11 letter from the chamber that the tribe should “compromise some of their ideals” to benefit the region “indicate to us that the PA chamber is not an organization with which we can have a good working relationship,” Tribal Chairwoman Frances Charles said in a letter dated Thursday and addressed to the chamber’s executive director and board members.
In an interview Saturday, Charles said the chamber had been “degrading our ancestors.”
The tribe, she said, is seeking unity, not pressure to be “forceful” in regard to tribal ancestors whose remains have been unearthed at the now-closed state Department of Transportation Hood Canal Bridge graving yard site on the city’s waterfront.
“But like our elders have indicated, enough is enough,” she said.
Letters traded
Charles’ Thursday letter came on the heels of the chamber’s Jan. 11 letter written at the request of the chamber’s board of directors by Russ Veenema, executive director.
It was signed by Veenema and 2005 chamber President Dan Gase, co-owner of Coldwell Banker Uptown Realty.
That letter was sent to Clallam and Jefferson counties’ three state legislators, both U.S. senators and U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks, asking the lawmakers to “order” the state Transportation Department to revive the graving yard on Marine Drive and “demand” that Transportation officials and the tribe submit to federal mediation.
The state Legislature, however, can do neither thing, and the tribe wants no part in either action.
The chamber’s letter said that the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe needs “to be willing to compromise some of their ideals and make decisions that are in the best interest of the entire region.”
Paddle journey funding
The letter from Charles retracts the tribe’s request for funding — it had requested $5,000 and the chamber had awarded $2,500 — that would have helped fund the “Paddle To Elwha” tribal paddle journey in August, an event involving tribes from throughout Washington and British Columbia.